BAN NOMADIC CATTLE REARING -
I AM WITH GOVERNOR GANDUJE (ON THIS) by Aliyu B. Lamido
A piece good to share:
Letter to my fellow Fulanis.
Dear Brothers,
I am writing this fully aware of the fact that this might never get to the Fulani Herdsmen journeying in forests which is precisely why I am writing in English instead of Fulfulde hoping the educated amongst us will accept my message and join hands as we push to help our nomadic brothers.
Rest assured, I know we like to talk about nomadic cattle herding in glowing nostalgic terms, but over the years, this practice has only exposed our nomadic brothers to agony and a harsh lifestyle in their attempt to live an impossible 17th century life in the 21st century. Make no mistake, this isn't bravery but naivety.
Nomadism harm our Fulani brothers more than anyone. I won't talk about the needless loss of lives this archaic practice has caused, since almost everyone is aware of that. I will rather concentrate on the health and socio-economic dangers this primitive practice has brought to our brothers.
As I write this, more than two million of our tribesmen are illiterates and do not own a house of their own due to their lifestyle, which isn't surprising since a nomad cannot own or go to school if he is always on perpetual journey from Adamawa to Ondo.
Our nomadic brothers die of snakebites, infectious diseases and fever. They live their lives in rain and under the scorching sun. They are unable to vote during elections. They sleep out in open areas or in rare situations, in thatched makeshift accommodation (for the lucky among them) both of which expose them to tsetse flies and mosquitoes, and when they get sick they lack access to medical care like you and I thereby risks losing their lives because of a lifestyle they chose.
The nomads drink from polluted water sources contaminated with human faeces, the raw milk they drink carry dangerous bacteria which leads to food poisoning. They get respiratory diseases because of the dust they inhale while traveling in bushes, and unfairly get extorted from security agencies.
Their children are born and raised under impoverished circumstances. They get driven from one place to another by fellow humans or natural forces, which always results in loss of lives or that of members of their family and/or their cattle.
Selfishly, sedentary Fulanis who live in cities and enjoy housing, electricity, decent water and healthcare like myself are the proponents of nomadic cattle herding today. How convenient!
So, this same Town-Fulanis who send their kids to schools want children of nomads who are as young as seven years old to continue chasing cows from Kebbi to Enugu and get paid with a pittance. I know some of you may think this is mere exploitation but I know slavery whenever I see it manifest.
Obviously, nomadic cattle herding in Nigeria is impossible. A country with a fast growing population dependent on farm produce for sustenance cannot accommodate this practice because of the pressure on land and other resources.
A cattle route followed by a herd moving from Northern Nigeria to the South during dry season is already filled with farmlands come rainy season, making it impossible for the same herd to return to the North via the same route. The problems are so many.
Truly, it is northern states that have land for cattle grazing. So, it's really surprising that our brothers choose to travel south where they are desperately hated and where land is relatively scarce in search of greener pasture they already have in abundance in the North.
Undoubtedly, land is the most precious of commodities and land is what the North has and what the south lacks.
Borno state with a surface area of (70,898 sq. km.) is 11 times the size of Abia state (6,320 sq. km.). Niger state with a land area of (76,363 sq. km) is 22 times the size of Lagos (3,345 sq. km.)
The entirety of Ondo state and its forest reserves that Governor Akeredolu has been losing sleep over is only (15,500 sq. km.) Meaning you can remove four ondo states and four Lagos states in one Niger state. In fact, the entire southeast boasts of only (41,440 sq. km.)
So, can anyone calmly explain to me why cattle herding is more viable in Delta and not Niger or Bauchi states?
This nomadic lifestyle has only brought hardship and suffering, turning our brothers into cheap and easily disposable labour, which has left them in extreme poverty of millennial dimensions, with no access to decent water, electricity, housing and healthcare.
Against this backdrop, the privileged and educated amongst us should advocate for the settlement of nomads, so they and their children can also attend schools, watch Television, sleep in conducive environments like ours and generally achieve economic emancipation.
Doing that will in turn improve literacy and reduce disease burden among our cousins, thereby freeing up more land to farmers and generally solving the problem of farmer-herder conflicts permanently.
When we do all that, it is children of the retired nomads that will become Doctors in our Medical Centers, Engineers in our factories and lawyers that will represent us when people from other social groups seek to malign us or our loved ones.
Like it or not, we cannot disconnect ourselves from the advancement of the 21st century and peacefully coexist with people of this age. So, the earlier we abolish this archaic and primitive practice of chasing cows from pillar to post, the better for everyone especially for our landless tribesmen.
Anybody interested in their cattle to follow them and buy according to cost of production.
